K-12 Cap Removal Stumbles, But Remains Alive In Budget

Lawmakers are trying to lift the decades-long cap on state-funded support positions for public schools through budget negotiations after legislation that would end the restriction failed earlier this week.

Senators have proposed spending $758.1 million for K-12 public education, which includes an additional $208.8 million over the state’s current biennium budget. To remove the cap, senators recommended adding $222.9 million from the general fund. The proposed Senate budget also called for $52.8 million for special education.

“Our goal with these investments is to provide additional resources to support our schools so that teachers are able to spend more time on instruction and less time on other administrative responsibilities,” said Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, during the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee’s Feb. 2 meeting.

Last session, lawmakers formed a joint committee to overhaul the Standards of Quality (SOQ), the state’s funding formula determining the financial needs of school divisions. The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) found that Virginia’s local governments are shouldering a disproportionate share of K-12 education costs compared to the state’s contributions. The more affluent a locality, the more its share, while those with less revenue contribute less to schools.

In 1993, the General Assembly changed how much state and localities should pay, with the state’s share at 55% and localities providing 45%, according to JLARC’s 2023 report. The change was prompted after lawmakers asked localities to start paying for K-12 fringe benefits. The contributions had been split evenly since 1972.

But in 2009 during the Great Recession, lawmakers implemented a “cap” or state-imposed limit on spending for support staff.

On Tuesday, the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee killed House Bill 1954, introduced by House Education Committee Chair Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke. The proposal would have provided additional support for students with special needs and created a program for at-risk, or low-income students and English language learners.

Democrats carried two bills to address removing the cap. Last month, the House version was incorporated into Rasoul’s bill. Then on Feb. 5, the Senate version died in Senate Finance & Appropriations.

Senate Education and Health Committee Chair Ghazala Hashmi, D-Richmond, told her colleagues earlier in the session that Virginia schools have been shortchanged by the commonwealth by over $6.6 billion in recent years.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration has opposed the legislation, instead calling for a broader funding formula overhaul.

While Youngkin and the General Assembly partially eased the cap last year by increasing the funding ratio from 21 support positions to 24 per 1,000 students, they agree more needs to be done after localities have had to pick up the shared cost. The state uses the local composite index (LCI) to determine each locality’s ability to pay. It also determines the local and state split of funding.

The House budget bill redirected $50 million earmarked for the proposed Virginia Opportunity Scholarship Program to removing the cap. The change would boost the funding ratio from 24 support positions per 1,000 students to 27.89 per 1,000 students.

Opponents criticized the “vouchers” program, which would have paid for students to attend private schools and other educational expenses.

Dean Lynch, executive director for the Virginia Association of Counties, wrote in a letter to the House and Senate money committees that the association appreciates the proposal in advancing “critical investments” in K-12 education.

“The elimination of the 15-year-old support cap represents a transformative step forward, allowing school divisions to hire additional support staff and better meet the needs of students,” Lynch wrote. “Additionally, the investments made in special education funding and compensation for instructional and support positions will further enhance educational outcomes across the commonwealth.”

The Senate and House budget bills are on track to pass and advance to the governor for review. Youngkin’s proposed budget did not include any plan to remove the cap.

by Nathaniel Cline, Virginia Mercury

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